Week 1 of the 2025 college football season features a loaded slate, including LSU at Clemson, Notre Dame at Miami and Alabama at Florida State, among others. LSU-Clemson could be a top-five matchup, as could the biggest headliner: Manning and Texas visiting Ohio State in a matchup of the 2024 national champion and our early 2025 favorite.

Ohio State and Texas headline the way-too-early College Football Playoff predictions for the 2025-26 season. With Ohio State projected as the No. 1 seed and Texas close behind at No. 2, these powerhouse programs are shaping up to be the teams to beat.

Texas football will face Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington.

It's never too early to look ahead to next season's College Football Playoff despite the Ohio State Buckeyes capturing the National Championship just weeks ago. This week, ESPN revealed the early College Football Playoff projection with the LSU Tigers cracking the list.

The 11 College Football Playoff games averaged 15.6 million viewers according to Nielsen, as audiences increased during each round.

We're into the college football offseason — albeit only in January — but it's time to continue NCAA.com's way-too-early preview of the season. I've already revealed way-too-early Heisman contenders and a way-too-early top-25 ranking,

Let's take a look back at Sports Illustrated's best images and coverage from the Buckeyes' championship night.